


Collide

by anartistbaby



Category: Qing Chun You Ni, 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Fluff and Crack, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-17 22:40:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 16,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18107939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anartistbaby/pseuds/anartistbaby
Summary: fluff collegeau for fellow changxi-zhenning stans :)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> [[might update slightly faster on aff]]

"Jiejie....." My brother is standing at the door, while looking at me with a very devastated face.

Noticing that he's carrying something he shouldn't, my eyes squint. This happens almost every morning.

I sigh then turn my head back to our dining table.

I'm preparing for his school meal.

"Baobao, drop it." I mutter.

 

......

Baobao is the most beloved one in our house. It's safe for me to call him that, because we're chosen to live to accompany each other in life. Right, only us.  _It's sad now that I tell you about it._ But we're both very happy, though.

We're different, but we complete each other. I'm way too less as a person, meanwhile him, just way too much. That might sound not good, but hear what I'll tell you next.

I'm the kind who seemingly radiates grumpiness most of the time, even in my happy days. It's likely the result of my self-mental training; I always tell myself to be stable and brave enough to protect my brother.

He's hence developed a complete opposite personality. He always wants to radiate positivity to everyone and everything—specifically, animals. Sometimes, I feel like he's too “positive”, that he thinks [and acts] in a very cheesy way possible.

He made me bury dead mice, lizards and even cockroaches in our yard. Not only that, he also once said that he wanted to marry me when he grows up—so I would finally stop looking sulky, in a way.

_Yup, he is that too much._

 

......

By the way, he's just started crying.

"Jie... what should I do..?" He sniffles. He's crying because the thing he's holding is dead, I think.

"I told you to drop it." I tell him in a flat tone.

But suddenly I flinch, as I remember that he's never up to no good. I sigh. "I mean, I'll bury it next to the others later, ok? Now you have to go to school."

"He's still alive, jie! School can wait.."

I purse my lips.

"If you're not going, then I'll not eat anything today." I always use that to scare him—to the point that I believe he's developed a phobia of that by now.

He starts pouting, while giving me his usual puppy eyes. Those used to work on me but sadly not anymore.

"You know I hate repeating myself."

"Okay..." He grumbles, in a cute tone. He starts putting the thing on our carpet. _Ugh not there._ Next, he'll ask me to eat in front of him. "But I have to make sure you eat something today."

The order is always like this.

I randomly grab a slice of bread then shove it into my mouth. "Done. Let's go." I hand him his meal. "Don't forget to wash your hands before you open this, ok?" He nods.

He starts walking to our door, as I'm taking my bag. But right at the door, he stops then peeks at me. "You're not going to throw him away, right?" He blinks a few times.

"I'll probably leave it somewhere, later."

"Jiee..." He pouts again.

I let out a heavy sigh. "I'll consider leaving it in front of our house."

But he still hasn't stopped looking at me.

"With milk and some foods." I add.

"I love you soo much, jie!" He grins very widely. "You don't have to walk me. I'm going by myself, bye-bye!"

I grab his bag and pull him from behind. "Don't you dare. We're still going together."

\---

I always walk my brother to his school, since it's near—unlike my campus, but my classes start a lot later than his, anyway.

"See you soon." I hug him, then look at him in his eyes. "Baobao, always remember that you have me no matter what if you start having a hard time, okay?"

"And always value honesty because mom and dad love it!" We say that in unison—as usual.

"See you soon!" I wave at him. He's finally started walking to his school's gate.

\---

"Ugh... such a lot of work." I pick up the thing from my carpet and put it on my lap. It's skinny but pretty heavy.

I'm currently sitting on my couch to see what's up with it.

It sometimes opens and closes its eyes. I can't believe that it's still alive. It didn't move from the point where Baobao put it, at all.

_Why didn't it leave, right away—_

I start turning its body around, then see that there are some scratches on its body. I feel sorry, mostly because I can imagine how gloomy Baobao's face if he sees this.

I carry him in my arms, then start leaving the house.

\---

I'm going to a vet clinic because we're really _that_ dedicated—no, he is but I'm not.

"Can I help you with something?" A smiling apron guy, asks. He gasps in an "o" shape when he glances at the thing in my arm.

He starts taking it from me while turning and checking on its body. "I'll take him to the doctor." He walks into a room there, and I follow him.

"Why does everyone know that it's a him? Don't they all look the same?" I mumble.

"We can tell from the genitals."

I twitch my face in disgust.

But I think he didn't notice that.

\---

"Did you pick it up from the street?"

"Kind of." I roll my eyes, _not a chance_. "I mean, my brother did." I start folding my arms on my chest because the doctor is taking so long.

I and the apron guy are outside of the room, but we can see everything clearly from a huge window there.

"How much will this one cost?" I ask him.

"Didn't you see the words at the front? This is a voluntary vet clinic. We give the needed care to those like him for free." I roll my eyes. He's one of my brother's kind—loves addressing these things with personal pronouns that show gender.

"And, it's done." The doctor is finally out of the room. "I've prescribed a pain-killer and an anti-inflammation for him. Please put these on his food twice a day." He gives me those in a plastic bag then adds, "Once they're emptied, please come back here with him."

I sigh, but I nod to him so he'll feel good. I initially wanted to make it leave by its own today, just like the others.

_What have I gotten myself into?_

I twitch my face while I press my eyes.

"What's up? You need a ride?" Says the apron guy. Startled, I pull my face away a bit. "No, thanks. I'm good."

People this kind are weirdly similar in many ways. My brother also often initiates many out-of-nowhere things—but they're always good, in my brother's case.


	2. Chapter 2

UGH, SERIOUSLY. I've been sighing so loud like I'm groaning.

"What is it this time?" My guy friend asks. He's likely disturbed by the sound I'm emitting now—or by me, because he said "this time".

"Nothing." I mutter in a flat tone.

He purses his lips.

I sigh to cool myself down, muttering, "It's really nothing important." Still not convincing enough. "Haha." I fake laugh then chuckle awkwardly.

 _He's a softie. He'll buy that_.

\---

"Xixi, you want to eat something?" I feel bad that I've been radiating such bad aura beside him in class. Although, I believe I do the same thing every day, pretty much.

"I guess," He raises his shoulders and his eyebrows, like he's down with everything.

He's the most accepting person I've ever met, besides my brother.

He's the type who always makes normal people wonder about how long he can put up until he explode—and they end up going crazy, because he really has no limit to that.

"It's been a long time that we don't eat in the cafeteria, right? I'll pay."

We both usually go straight to work after class, or home first then meet up at work, so we barely eat on campus in this hour.

"Which cafeteria should we go to?" He asks.

Our campus has a lot of faculties in separate buildings, along with their own cafeterias. The options are so wide. Maybe that's why we only eat outside.

"Let's take a look at the review section." He takes his phone and starts clicking stuff.

"Wait, we have that?"

"Apparently."

"And the highest rating is in the Faculty of Economy and Business. Most said that the view is great."

"What's so important about that? We come to any cafeteria to eat."

"So, no?"

"Uh, it's alright. Let's go." I hold him by the arm then start dragging him to the building.

\---

The cafeteria is super crowded. I think, it's possible that the students here are a lot more than us in terms of amount.

But I still don't see any difference with our cafetaria—other than that.

We're standing right at the main door, contemplating about where to sit— _and should we really sit in here, by the way?_

In a blink of an eye, people start staring at us while whispering stuff to their friends and giggling.

I twitch my face while I squint, in discomfort. "What is wrong with these—" I turn to look at Xixi and turns out he also does, but he's showing his usual uneasy grin to me.

I press my eyes, as I take a deep breath through my mouth.

 _This is also why we always eat outside_.

My good friend here—or let's say my bestfriend—has a very, very amazing face. He doesn't look like a regular Chinese guy. I used to think that he's a mix, which he always denied.

Not only the face, he also has a slender posture like a legit model. I wonder how he manages to maintain such a look while working his ass off to live—like me.

Wait, that's also a form of exercise _._

"Sorry, that I brought you here." I mutter. "But being noticed by many is not always a bad thing, though. It'll be beneficial for you someday."

"Besides, since we're already here, let's just enjoy!" I drag him by his arm and start looking for empty seats.

\---

"What do you want to eat?"

"Huh?? What are you saying?" He's slightly yelling at me, because it's _fucking_ noisy in here.

So right after we got our seats, people have stopped giggling but bickering, instead. They're producing this certain noise that makes us feel like we're attending some outdoor concert.

"WHAT-DO-YOU-WANT-TO-EAT?" I yell that slowly but with no chill—I'm mimicking everyone here.

"Oh, anything!" He raises his shoulders—again—while smiling with both his eyes and his lips.

But suddenly, a random girl with huge seemingly-widened-in-purpose eyes walks to us. "Hi, sorry.. my friends are wondering," She pauses. "—that maybe you two are together?"

I squint and instantly blurt, "No."

"Yes." He suddenly adds that in almost the same time as me.

The girl is of course, confused. She starts turning to me and him, while blinking. "So yes, or no?" She asks.

He takes a glance at me, briefly, then turns to her. I'll just act like I can read your mind. "Yes." I quickly respond.

"Uh, alright.." She presses her lips, looking a bit down, but suddenly bright again—how scary. "Are you on Weibo or something? What's your name?" She takes out her phone, waiting for him to spill a thing.

But he wets his bottom lip then bites it, instead—I feel lowkey nervous with what's possibly on this girl's mind seeing this. "No, he's not anywhere." I tell her.

She starts glaring at me. "Hey, I know he's currently with you." She scoffs. "But you don't have to be that petty! He's a person, not your property!" Her tone, her theory, and her face, totally annoy me.

I slam the table. "You know what, fuck you." I stand up. Her nose crinkles as she gasps. I start talking in a completely higher tone. "Are you blind or just extremely stupid? He's clearly uncomfortable having you here."

"You said something about him being a person and not a property, but you yourself don't let him have his privacy." I roll my eyes, then look at her straight in the eyes. "So why are you still here? Leave."

She's blinking many times very quickly—in fear I bet, lol. She slightly stomps her feet and clenches her teeth, but then leaves anyway.

\---

I sit back, trying to breathe slowly. I feel short of breath after having to deal with the lame girl. "Ugh. I hate people like her." I mumble.

"So.." He pauses. "Thanks, I guess?" He sticks his tongue out a bit, then bites it. He seems to be smiling but he's not sure about it—or another thing.

"Don't mention it. I don't know why, but I always feel like I'm guilty every time I win in this kind of thing."

"Why?"

"I said I don't know. Move on." I sigh.

"Anyway, people like her won't ever give up that easily. She'll surely find you on the internet."

"You used to be very annoyingly famous in our faculty too, right? So how did you break free from that?"

He starts scratching the back of his head. He looks kind of, restless.

"What's up?" I ask him.

"Nothing." He wets his lips again.

I suck my lips, thinking that it must've led him to one of the most disturbing memories ever, _duh_. I should stop.

"Alright. I was just trying to say, that you should try doing whatever that was again this time." I stand up.

"Remember that I always got your back no matter what, okay?" I smile at him, then leave to get our food


	3. Chapter 3

HOW HE SURFACED IN THIS LIFE. I was busy trying to snap a photo of the things on the whiteboard, when someone came to our class.

The lecturer was sensitive with students not taking notes on their book but phone instead. A certain conflict arose between us because of that before.

I slightly smirked while I pressed the camera button on my phone. I was lowkey glad that that someone's appearance had just helped me to perform that quietly—the class was in chaos bickering about him.

As I was finally able to turn my head to the front, to catch up with the current issue, I pursed my lips. So the guy was new here, _I guess_ , and he's telling stuff about it to the lecturer.

He's exactly the type who easily attracts attention with his overall—from-head-to-toe—visual.

I admit that I did feel a little bit of spark inside, but who cares.

I wanted to know whether the Flash was able to get rid of the robot or not.

I shook my head and continued playing with my phone. I put it [back] on my desk, covered with my pencil case. I pressed play on the thing I was watching; a certain superhero series with subtitle so I could mute it.

But in instant, I sighed because I couldn't seem to understand what's going on—with the episode. I kept getting distracted by the bickerings.

"Oh my God, hot!"

"Get your fucking ass out of there!"

"On a scale 1 to 10, how much do you think the possibility of him not wanting to be with me?"

"I need him in my group!"

"No, he's going to be in my group! I'm going to ask the Professor—"

"No, I'm telling the Professor that!"

"What the heck???"

"You're not supposed to—"

"SILENCE!!!!!" The Professor slammed his table then sighed.

"We have a newly transferred student here and I want all of you to pay attention to him."

He turned to the new guy.

"Tell the class about yourself."

The guy nodded while he slightly smiled at the Professor, then turned to us. But his already-hard-to-notice smile disappeared as he's looking at us.

"I'm He Changxi."

_He looked like a very serious guy._

He had the vibe like he's figured everything in life thus he doesn't give a fuck with anything and anyone anymore.

"I came from Henan just a few days ago, and I hope—"

 _Boring_ , I thought. I rolled my eyes, and quickly took my hair tie off of my ponytail. I was trying to cover my ears with my hair.

I carefully plugged my earsets in, then started watching the remaining episode—I was seriously curious.

\---

Someone poked me on the shoulder.

_Dude, I'm currently paying my fullest attention to comprehend the robot's scheme here._

But the person suddenly held my shoulder. "Can't you see that I'm busy?" I blurted that while I tilted my head to that side.

It turned to be the new Henan guy, and he's already sitting beside me.

 _I was very annoyed_.

Not by how he suddenly appeared beside me or disturbed me watching. But because he's pointing to the front then I turned to there and—

I finally noticed that the Professor was angry while looking at me.

I started taking my earsets out, _lazily_.

"Playing with your phone in my class again, Miss Sun Yihan?"

I pressed my eyes.

"Hm fuck." I mumbled.

I packed my bag and just left—before I had to hear more unnecessary ramblings.

\---

I was watching another episode while sitting on the corner of a certain corridor, when suddenly, a group of people came and _fucking_ distracted me.

My earsets couldn't even hold me from sensing their presence.

_Come on, this time the nemesis seems to be not a robot anymore. I'm busy and curious._

I groaned while I took out my earsets and put them into my bag.

A group of girls were surrounding someone and making so many noises. I could easily tell that that someone was the new guy, since he's super tall.

As I stood up and started fixing my shirt, he yelled, "No, I'm going with her, the girl that just left the class." How out of nowhere, much? It irked me _a little_ so I turned while crinkling my forehead.

He mouthed, "Help!" with a very emergency face. I blinked many times, probably considering.

He just made me have to kick myself out of the class. Let's say, if he didn't attract the attention to my seat earlier, maybe—

"Please.." He mouthed that while furrowing his eyebrows. He looked pitiful and it's very distracting, since he's in the middle of such highly-energized girls.

I was confused with why he needed me to save him. He's the only man there, very tall and sturdy, so I thought he had the needed energy to help his own self _._

I mouthed, "Just go!"

But he shook his head and started twitching his whole face.

"What are you doing?" I mouthed again. He could've just left by now— _if he didn't have such a very low self-esteem_.

He suddenly made an "x" with his hands for a brief second to me while mouthing, "I can't!"

I pursed my lips, thinking—that how could a guy like him say that he can't walk out from a sea of girls? He should know that I was pretty much half the size of everyone there; very undependable.

But then my eyes widened, as I was finally able to imagine something crazy but still believable to be his concern.

Him, pushing girls out of his way might look like he's trying to perform some sexual assaults on them. Not to mention, these girls might use that to "get" him in many bizarre ways _later_.

I sighed but I walked to the girls, anyway. I said this to the row in front of me, "Move."

But no one cared.

"I said, move!" I yelled.

They're too busy making noise about him to actually notice my presence.

I groaned.

"Excuse me excuse me excuse me—" I kept saying that while slipping myself through the crowd. And since no one's listening, I was more like mumbling to myself.

Some were blurting these as they're pushed aside, but without paying attention to the source of pain aka me:

"Oww,"

"Ouch!"

"Shit!"

"Oww!"

"Ugh!"

And stuff.

 _Note that I've said excuse me_.

Once the new guy was already in front of me, I grabbed his wrist and dragged him out. I did everything very quickly that I even had to run until we reached somewhere far enough from there.

\---

I immediately released his wrist then bent my upper body to the ground, panting.

"Bless my shirt." I just poured my beloved shirt with sweats all over it. I felt bad—to it.

"So.. thanks, I guess?" He blurted, with a totally steady voice like he's not tired at all.

"Yeah, yeah. Now leave."

"Sorry, that I made you have to leave the class earlier." He scratched the back of his head while grinning uneasily.

"Why sorry, though? I have to thank you, instead."

"What?" He started blinking quickly in disbelief.

"I nearly died in curiosity about what the robot was up to with my Flash."

"What??"

I tilted my head to him.

"Can't you say anything besides what?"

He's seriously stunned.

I rolled my eyes. "By the way, what's your name again?"

"He Changxi. You can call me Xixi."

Pffttt seriously.

I tried hard not to explode. I'd probably feel bad if he feels bad—from seeing me burst.

"How about you?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"Your name."

"Ah.. Sun Yihan."

"Yiyi, then"

"What???"


	4. Chapter 4

THE QUEUE IS EXTREMELY LONG. Every time it's a girl's turn to order, she would order very slowly. I can't really tell what's wrong, but perhaps, they're just obsessed with calorie-counting— _but why does it have to be right in front of the cashier?_

I call Xixi.

"Hey, I think this is going to be super long. Are you okay there?"

"I can see that from here. Chill, I'm fine. How about you? Do you want to get out of here?"

"I don't know. The queue makes me curious about the food, somehow. Maybe they're extremely good?"

"Alright. Wait for me—"

"No, you should stay. It's hard to get that table already. I'll handle this myself."

"Ok... see ya."

\---

Some were giggling while picking what to order, some were busy with their hair while paying, and some were actually puffing their cheeks while only looking at the cashier. _The fuck?_

I tilt my head to check on the cashier.

I see a skinny guy with tanned skin, handing a tray full of food to a random girl. _I know right tanned is sexy_. He looks familiar. But I can't really tell because some girls are still blocking his face out of my sight.

\---

After a few girls hurting my ears and my eyes by trying to act cute—but not getting any expected feedback from the cashier guy, it's finally one girl left until my turn.

And yet, she's still taking so long to just say her order.

"So, what do you want?" The guy asks, for the third time already.

I've started fidgeting my right foot, in annoyance, and folded my arms on my chest. Come on, girl.

"Hey, you." I call her from behind. But she's still focused on the menu list—while fixing her _fucking_ hair. "Just randomly pick one already. He's going to get bored with your hair."

I was being sarcastic, but she actually bought it.

She's stopped playing with her hair and is currently paying for her food.

Does everyone here love sharing advises to one another regarding acting cute in front of this particular cashier guy?

\---

I'm still playing with my phone when the guy says, "Hey, it's your turn." I look up, then walk a step ahead.

As I look at his face, I gasp. "God, you're fucking everywhere." I blurt that because he turns to be the smiling apron guy from the vet clinic earlier.

"Uh... no, I'm helping here." He suddenly blinks a few times as he looks at me. "You're that tsundere girl!"

"What?" I furrow my eyebrows.

 _What a fellow random nerd_.

"You know, looking like he/she doesn't care but actually cares a lot—"

"Ugh.” I roll my eyes. “I know what that means. I was just wondering why you chose that word." Out of many other words.

"You saved a dog from dying on the street. And you looked upset when you're actually not."

 _I was legit upset_.

"I said it's my brother who saved the thing, not me. But anyway, can we just skip to the part where I start ordering?"

\---

"Nini." I'm reading the name written on the guy's apron. What a cute name, for a guy.

"No, this actually belongs to a friend." He chuckles, then suddenly offers his hand to me. _How smooth—for someone who's embarrassed with his own name._

"I'm Li Zhenning. And you are?"

"Yihan. Sun Yihan." I shake his hand. He starts grinning very widely. _Okay, his teeth are cute._

_\---_

In the middle of the cafeteria people making the food I've ordered, the curiosity of how they taste re-appears in my head. "Can I ask you something? It may or may not upset you, in a way." I ask the cashier guy.

"What is it?"

"Wait, you're a student in this faculty?"

"Yes.. so?"

But insiders often have more grudges towards the.. institution.

"You said you're only helping here. So you don't actually work here, then?"

"Clearly."

"I'm just curious with what you think about the taste of the food here?" It seems to be not that important—I know. But it is, for me and Xixi though.

"Uh, they're okay." He tilts his head to the side. "They're good."

"Just that?" I twitch my face.

"I'm actually from the Foreign Language faculty, and I came here because this place was rated the highest."

"Well, this place always has many customers every day."

"I can tell." I look around, seeing that even after being here for more than an hour, this place still looks super crowded—of mainly girls.

"The reviews mostly complimented about the view here." I mutter, then turn to him. "Does this place really have a good view? But where?"

He raises his shoulders while he presses his lips. I think he has no idea about it, too. "The interior is quite tidy. I think." He adds.

"But this looks exactly like my faculty's. Why didn't they rate it high too, then?" I mumble.

There's no difference between the view here and there—and in all cafeterias of this campus, I bet.

I take a glance at the people behind me while mumbling, "Why are you all queueing this long just for some okay food and uniform interior?"

I flash my eyes.

That question hits me as he puts a tray of my order in front of me.

"Do you realize that all the girls here eat in this place just to see _this_ view?" I make a circular motion with my palms in front of his face.

He's busy checking the things on the receipt and the tray. "Really." He mutters that lazily—or sarcastically, I can't tell—while he rubs the back of his earlobe.

"Tea." I snicker. "So you know that already."

"You've been talking about yourself." He snickers.

"Huh?"

"You came all the way here just to see me." _How dare_ he says that as he starts clicking things on the machine.

"Geez, no." I squint at him. "I told you I came because of the freaking review."

He starts giggling.

"But you're also a girl."

"By the way, it's 20 yuan. Cash or card?”

“Card.” I give him my phone, so he can scan the screen.

\---

"Hey, you see that guy sitting by himself there?" I point at Xixi so this guy can see—and stop being a jerkface that he is. "The one looks like he's imported straight from another country... or universe."

_God, I'm proud of Xixi in many ways today._

"I came here with him." I smirk as I turn back to the guy. "You can see yourself that he's also very handsome. It's clear that I didn't come here for you."

He's nodding, but the corners of his mouth are twitching downwards. "You're pretty creative." He snickers.

I squint at him.

You'll see.

"HEY CHANGXI!" I yell that loudly.

Xixi turns while giving his big stunning smile to me, then he waves and I wave back. _Haha._

Wait—

I slap my forehead, because I've finally realized that everybody's started looking at him while giggling, again.

_Why did you fucking spill the_ _tea._

I turn to the cashier guy while pressing my eyes shut.

"Alright, I get it." He says.

"But you said he's _also_ very handsome." He snickers again. "You do realize that I'm very handsome, then."

I open my eyes and immediately glare at him. "WAHH..." I let out a heavy sigh. "I didn't know that you're as this annoying." I raise my lip corner on one side, in disgust.

Then I leave.

\---

"Let's get out of here."

"Huh??" Xixi furrows his eyebrows.

I grab our bags on the chair beside him, then start dragging him out by his arm.

"But, I'm kind of hungry—"

\---

Somewhere far from there,

"What happened?"

"I just.. completely fucked up."

"Did the cashier guy do something wrong to you?" He crinkles his forehead while looking at me with his _sparkling_ eyes.

"You should've let me go there." He sighs. Can he drop his prince-charming attitude for once? _I'm also a girl, I can die inside._

I shake my head—doesn't necessarily mean that the cashier guy wasn't annoying; I only regret that _Geez_ , I let him cause harm to my well-being.

I tell Xixi, "I was just—"

_Wait, it's not only to my well-being._

"Urrghhhh." I start doing the thing I do on a daily basis; groaning.

"What is it?"

"I just realized that... I didn't let you eat the food you've waited for a freaking long time." I twitch my face while I press my eyes.

 _I'm so disgusted with myself_.

"I also yelled your name out loud to the sea of the freaky girls." I rub my hair in frustration. "Those wouldn't happen if I didn't ask you to eat in the campus."

He puts his palm on my shoulder. "It's alright, Yiyi." _Something inside [always] feels soft every time he calls me that_.

"I only have to make all of my online accounts private." He adds.

"That doesn't sound like a happy solution to me."

"But I'm happy with that, though." He flings his arm on my shoulder.

"Come on, we're running late and we're hungry!" He chuckles, as he drags me to walk to our work.


	5. Chapter 5

HE LET THAT THING SLEEP ON MY BED. I just arrived home after a tiring shift, initially wanted to drop my body for some energizing sleep, but instead, I found the thing not only using my bed, but also my blanket.

I sigh at the sight then rush to find Baobao.

\---

He's in his room.

I knock on his door first, then try to open it. Since it's not locked, I just walk in right away.

He's doing his homework when I come. And as he takes a glance at me, he bites his bottom lip then presses his eyes, in fear.

I sigh.

"You know I never want to get mad at you, right?"

He nods, while still in fear.

"I'm disappointed that you let it come to my room, when you know I don't like animals."

I hold his shoulder.

"Now, can you please move it away from my room?"

He opens his eyes, looking at me.

"That's it?" He asks.

I furrow my eyebrows.

"Why, there should be more?"

"Uhh...."

"Wait a minute. What did you do, Baobao?"

He gulps.

"Spill--it."

"I..." He bites his lip again.

"I actually put it there because...."

He suddenly jumps to his bed and covers himself with his blanket.

"It peed on your bed and I didn't know what to do about it!" He shouts.

I twitch my face and press my eyes together.

For a while, I forgot that he's only a kid. How can he know how to take care of a dog? And cleaning a bedsheet?

_I've been disturbing his childhood by making him have to take care of himself until I come home everyday already._

I could've dropped it on the street when he's still at school, but I didn't. Thus, it's become my responsibility. I'm the adult.

 _These were probably why I was super sulky in the morning_.

I walk to his bed and sits on its edge. I mutter, "Hey, it's alright. I'll clean it for now."

He opens his blanket to peek a bit.

"Let's learn how to take care of it together, okay?" I smile at him.

\---

We need to get some things to start living with the thing on my bed, I think. And since I don't know where to start, I'm taking Baobao to the free vet clinic.

"Wow, you're such a busy human today." I blurt that in a flat tone. It should sound like a sarcasm, because I really didn't expect to see him here.

How is he willing to work here in the morning, then cafeteria in the afternoon, and now here again in the evening?

"Not really. We only have very few visitors today." He mutters. _That's not what I meant, but who cares._

As he notices that it's me by looking at my face, he chuckles. "I didn't know that you're as this driven to see me." He can't seem to drop the annoying-arrogant-cashier persona yet, ever.

"We just met in the cafeteria and now you even bring me a friend." He smirks to himself then suddenly tilts his head to peek at Baobao.

"Heey, who is this cute little guy here?" He's trying to sound cute while showing _off_ his wide grin.

But instead, Baobao hides behind me. "I'm 8 already, I'm not little." He sounds annoyed. _Even my brother isn't interested in you. Lol._

"Okay, so you're a big guy. What's the name of this big guy, then?" He's still trying _so hard_ to sound cute.

My brother starts tugging my shirt. He probably wants to ask me whether I allow him to tell his name or not. _I don't_.

"Ah, I know it! It starts with Sun, right?" _You don't say?_

But he still doesn't want to give up. He's wasting our time.

"So, you're Sun what?"

"I'm not supposed to talk with strangers." Baobao blurts.

The guy furrows his eyebrows as he turns to me, "Just what have you brainwashed him with?" He twitches his face.

"Ugh." I roll my eyes, groaning. "Aren't you going to ask us what you should help us with, or what? We're leaving if you're not."

"Okay," He pauses. "—so what do you guys want me to help you with? You don't even bring any animal, though?"

I clench my teeth and squint.

"We only want to ask you something."

"Which is?"

"The things we should get to start taking care of a dog."

"Huh?" He looks really confused.

I sigh.

"Should we get some bath necessities or what?" I roll my eyes. "Come on, you're the one who knows stuff here."

He chuckles, then furrows an eyebrow. "You could've just looked it up on the internet." He mutters.

"Uh, fuck that." I blurt that while I raise my lip corner on one side. But suddenly I gasp, and immediately bend to reach Baobao's level.

"I didn't say anything just know, ok? You heard nothing." I tell him.

"Pfffttt." The guy starts.. being himself.

I turn back to him.

"Just tell us the list already."

"Really, why didn't you try Google? You don't have to come all the way here."

"It's easier this way than reading." I roll my eyes. _I made the wrong decision_ — _by coming here_. "So you want to help us or not?"

He purses his lips.

"Alright, we're leaving." I grab my brother's hand and drag him to the door.

"Hey, calm down. We're about to close in a few minutes, anyway."

I let out a heavy sigh.

"But I think, I'm available to go with you guys shopping tonight."

My nose crinkles to the thought. "Ugh, no thanks. I'll just take care of it according to what I know."

"Huh?"

"Some people give their dogs the excess food that their family can't finish, right? They also clean the dogs with human's bathing products." I roll my eyes. "So, bye."


	6. Chapter 6

WE'RE BASICALLY LEAVING WITH NOTHING. But after walking for only a few steps away from the _annoying_ vet clinic, my phone rings.

It's Xixi. _#Yay_

"Hello." I answer the call.

"Yiyi!" _Something inside just jumped_. "Another episode for the Flash has been released! You should go watch—" He suddenly pauses.

"Wait, you're outside?" He asks.

"Yep, but we're heading home now."

"We?"

"I'm with Baobao."

"Huh? But it's late already. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Why did I have to do that?" I mumble.

"What??"

"Anyway, I have to find some taxi, bye—"

"Wait! Tell me where you are."

"Geez, bye." I roll my eyes.

\---

So the bus stop nearby actually has a pretty comfortable bench and we're currently sitting on it. I'm _slightly_ worried because Baobao is tired but there's still no taxi in sight.

My phone rings again, for a text.

Xixi: I'm near.

Me: Lol creepy.

Xixi: *photo*

He actually sent me a selfie of him inside a car.

Xixi: You guys find a safe spot first. I'll pick you up.

Me: Whose car did you steal, huh?

Xixi: It's mine.. 😎

Seriously.

Xixi: Now tell me where you are, quick, or I'll keep driving around here **forever**.

I sigh, but I send my location to him anyway.

\---

A common red hatchback car, but looking new, suddenly stops in front of us.

The window rolls down.

"Guys!" Xixi calls us.

But Baobao is already sleeping on my lap. He really can't stay up late anywhere.  _And he also shouldn't. What kind of sister am I._

I start patting his shoulder lightly, "Baobao, wake up." He doesn't budge. "Come on.. Xixi gege is here. You should—"

Xixi shush me as he gets out of the car. He immediately runs to us and lifts Baobao in his arms.

He puts Baobao on his passenger's seat, gently.

\---

"How did you get this car?" I ask while I get into the seat beside him. "Did you actually buy this?" I gasp.

He doesn't answer.

No wonder, the money from our work can never buy this, even in installments. "Or you got this from one of your uncles?" I add.

"Um..." He wets his lips. "You're right. It's from an uncle." He giggles awkwardly.

I punch his shoulder playfully. "Dude, I'll never mock you even if you lied that it's yours."

He starts scratching the back of his head while grinning sheepishly.

\---

"Why did you two travel around here at this hour?"

"Well, we initially wanted to buy basic necessities for his new dog."

"You guys adopted a dog?"

"Not really. He found it dying in the morning. So I plan to keep it until it's quite healthy."

"But where are the things that you bought? Were they shipped to your place?"

I purse my lips.

"No. We bought nothing."

"What, why?"

"We were tricked by an unimportant someone so we ended up wasting our time." My nose crinkles to the thought. "You remember the annoying cashier guy this afternoon?"

"Yes?" He blinks a few times then turns to me. "Wait, you said he didn't do anything wrong to you.." He sighs while squinting.

I bite my tongue. "Yeah, sorry. He was a bit annoying today. But frankly speaking, I was the stupid one because I allowed him to be that way."

"What did he do actually?"

"He mocked me about coming to the cafeteria because he thought I wanted to see him, again."

"Again?"

"Uh... so we kind of met in the morning when I brought the thing—I mean dog—to a clinic."

I suddenly press my eyes.

"Now that I've said it to you, I think it's normal for him to assume that I came to see him."

"But you didn't, right?"

"Dude, you knew why I came there." I glare at him, then quickly fix my eyes back to the road.

"It's funny that I actually bragged about coming with you to him, so that he'd start losing his cool."

Xixi smiles.

"—but I failed, though."

He starts crinkling his forehead.

 

...... 

"How did you usually go to campus, then?" I asked Xixi.

So I and he were sitting on a bus from our campus. He insisted on going with me because he wanted to learn how to ride it.

He said he's considering to use it every day starting from that day.

"By cars." He blurted.

"You mean car? You're only one person."

He started widening his cute eyes, so they looked even more sparkling— _if that's actually possible._

"Right. I was just a bit mixed up because some people used to drive me before."

"Some people?" I chuckled. "How did they fit on the driver's seat?"

"No, n-not all at once. It's different every day." He pressed his eyes for a second then opened them again.

"I see... but how did you convince them to drive you? Wait, are you filthy rich or something?"

"No, not at all. I just have a lot of kind-hearted uncles." He grinned uneasily.

"So your family must be a really big one."

"You can put it that way."

I patted his shoulder. "Chill, I'm not the type who loves judging big families. Having a lot of family members is cute."

\---

"Where is your stop?" He asked.

"Umm, are you hungry by the way?"

"No..."

"I know you were in the class for a long time today like me, which means that you also haven't had lunch."

"Uh.. yes." He's pressing his lips.

"My stop is in front of a restaurant where I work part-time. They sell great food." I smiled at him.

"Wait, you work?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Is it something I shouldn't?"

"No, I just wonder why?"

"Because... I have to pay for my living expenses and my brother's?"

"You live with your brother?"

"Yes, only him. So I have no choice other than working for both of us, somehow." I chuckle uneasily.

"You're really cool."

"You don't have to make me feel good by saying that, you know. But, thanks."

"Will they accept me, too?"

"Huh?" My eyes flashed. "You want to work there?"

He nodded.

_Well, they can't refuse you, because you'll surely attract many customers._


	7. Chapter 7

FACULTY TRIP? I, Xixi and others from my major are going on a trip arranged by the faculty. So everyone has to go on this trip for team-building and retreat purposes, _they say_.

"This is stupid." I mumble that to myself. But Xixi can hear it since he's sitting right beside me.

"Come on, it might be fun."

"I hate that I can't bring Baobao with me."

I've asked an aunt next door to take care of him while I'm away. She's actually a great person and I know that, but I still can't help feeling restless about leaving him behind like this.

_Where I usually left him at home alone for hours, every single day. Hmm..._

Xixi suddenly puts one of his earsets on my ear; the other one is already on his ear. "We can just call him right now." He puts his phone in front of us. It's shown on the screen that we're already calling Baobao.

"Hello?" He answers.

"Hey, what have you broken in auntie's house?" I ask him.

"I didn't break anything..." He pouts.

"Ah... how cute!" I mumble that as quiet as possible while giggling. Baobao can't hear that, I believe.

"I've been diligently doing my homework, just an fyi. Also, I've bathed Xiao Xi with auntie."

He named that thing _that_ because he's inspired by Xixi's name. The Xiao was then added so we wouldn't confuse the two.

"That's cool, Baobao. I want to go home already." I press my lips.

"But we're actually not even there yet." Xixi adds.

I glare at him.

"You know what, I don't want to disturb you two. So bye!" It looks like he's putting the phone away, then leaves. But only after a brief second, he takes it back. "Ge, just bear with jiejie if she suddenly gets angry for no reason, ok?"

"What?" I blink many times. _So he was about to hang up._

"Chill, I'm used with that bro." Xixi and he both smile in an annoying way to each other.

He suddenly whispers, "Also don't forget to hit her if she says any bad word. Bye!" He puts the phone away again.

But this time it's for real.

"The fuck? He doesn't even know how to end a call and still dares to mock me." I roll my eyes.

Xixi flicks my forehead.

"SHIT!!!"

I glare at him, and notice that he's about to give me another flick, so I quickly grab his hand.

"You want to die?"

\---

Our ride has just stopped on a certain huge parking lot. Once I'm out of it, I can feel the cold fresh air around me.

"Ok,  good start. There's actually something that I don't hate in here." I mumble.

Xixi is taking my bag and his own bag from the baggage cabin.

As he suddenly starts wearing my bag, I tell him, "Hey, I take that myself." I release it from him and wear it on my shoulder.

"You sure you can hold it?"

"Yea yea, of course."

\---

After we're out from there, I finally see that our trip is located on a resort that has its own beach. I feel funny just from seeing the picture on a huge banner.

 _I actually also feel like falling on my butt, but I've quickly put my palm on a tree nearby so I'm able to support my body_.

"You're ok?" Xixi asks, while offering his hand to me.

"Yes." I chuckle uneasily. "Besides, why wouldn't I?" I grab his hand and try to stand properly.

"By the way, do we have any planned activity for this trip? Like in the form of rundown or something?"

"Uh-huh. Wait, you haven't seen it on the group chat, have you?"

"Well..." I take my phone and open the post he's talking about.

"Ugh, can one skip some of it?"

"I don't know. Maybe you're free if you're sick. You're not planning to act like one, right?"

I sigh.

I want to use my time to binge-watch the Flash and/or other superheroes. Isn't this supposed to be my retreat time?

"Attention everyone!" One of my classmates, seemingly the Person in Charge (PIC) of this _shit_ is giving us some instructions with an unnecessarily too-loud mic. "In 30 minutes, please remember that everyone has to gather near the field on time. We're going to play our first fun game, thank you!"

_Fun my ass._

\---

I'm confused with which room to choose for myself. Initially, the people working for our faculty have made a list for our room distributions. But since none of them are present here, everyone's decided to just ditch that and occupy any room they want.

I'm still on the first floor of the hotel, sitting on a certain bench with my bag.

The receptionist here is very accepting, that she keeps on directly giving the key that's requested by anyone from my faculty. I've been seeing couples and squads bickering about which room to get for themselves here.

We're too ridiculously free that I don't know what to do.

I take out my phone and start texting Xixi.

Me: You've got yourself a room?

He calls me.

"Hello." I answer.

"What's up? I can't text right now. I'm helping on the field."

"Have you chosen your room yet?"

"Uh, nope. You?"

"Well.. I'm actually in front of the receptionist, but instead of getting a key, I'm calling you."

"I'm cool with anything. I'll go with your pick."

"Wait, what?" I gulp. "No, you choose for yourself. I'm asking you because I can't even choose for myself."

"Um... how about, I'll be right there in 5 or probably 10?"

"Alright. Bye-bye."

\---

Suddenly, I start hearing the sound of a pair of shoes running to this way. As the sound gets louder, I can see that it's Xixi.

"Yiyi! Still haven't chosen any yet?" He asks me.

"Yeah," I tilt my head to the side; I'm more like not in the mood for anything.

"Alright, let's choose." He grabs my wrist and drags me to the receptionist.

"Excuse me, is there any room left for us?" He asks her.

"A room for two? Yes, here are the options." She shows us a brochure of a few types of room with double-bed.

 _Geez_. I furrow my eyebrows. "No, he meant two rooms for each of us." I blurt.

\---

So I and he got the two rooms with the same type, next to each other. It's not huge but comfortable enough for me to like, _fake_ stuff.

I'm already in my crop tank top and boxer, ready to go straight to bed.

 

> Should I fake-sick for real? Too random, no one will buy that.
> 
> Should I order a taxi to go directly home from this place? Too expensive.
> 
> Should I fake-lock myself in here? Too drama and risky.
> 
> If I get exposed, I'll instantly lose the cool vibe I've built for a long time.

\---

My phone suddenly buzzes for another new post on the group chat.

"Change into something comfortable, guys. The air is pretty cold. Don't get sick, jia you!!!"

I roll my eyes.

I'm not someone who can't stand the cold. But I'm not in the mood to show up in this either.

I take my black hoodie and randomly wears it to cover everything on the top.

I admit that I do have a little internal discomfort for... not necessarily the beach but only the sea.

I know right it’s kind of cringey, because I should've moved on from any kind of dramatic childishness by now, including the one called fear— _or a slight phobia._


	8. Chapter 8

I CAN'T DO THIS. I've decided to just throw myself into the mess, even I'm surely not ready—I'll never be ready whenever.

I'm sitting on the beach sand with everyone from my class. I feel like I'm the only one in "mourning" mode here because no girl is in black clothes around me.

So we're divided into two sections; girls and boys, to probably help the PIC picking the players.

"Test, 1, 2, 3."

"Guys, you made it here on time!! Applause for yourself!"

Everyone starts clapping.

I'm clapping too, but lightly, while sitting with both palms resting on the ground behind my back.

I feel so restless that I don't have the mood to sit straight.

Some used to say that I look like I only have 10% of spirit to live every day. I think this time, it's like it's been decreased to -10%.

"Ok, the first sport we'll play is Volleyball! We have 5 rounds today in total and every round will be played by 6 different players. So most of you will have a chance to play today."

Everyone cheers.

Yay, in a flat tone from me.

"The losing team will have to drop themselves into the sea with minimal clothes! Imagine how freezing it is in this already-freezing air."

 _Shitttt_.

Although I actually know how to play that sport a little bit.

"They only have to use the edge part of the sea for 30 seconds. We don't want anyone to get hurt here. If you have any question, please say it now."

Can I not play at all?

\---

"Ok, let's start! Team A consists of those sitting in front of me: Daniel, Zhang Yuxi and Sun Qian!"

Everyone cheers every time a name is being called.

"Meanwhile Team B consists of those sitting on the very back: Feng Junjie, Guan Xiao Tong and Sun Yihan!"

Once the PIC calls my name, not everyone makes any sound but only some. They don't cheer but scream "Woooo!!!" instead, which in my interpretation sounds like booing me but in a positive way.

I roll my eyes as I stand up from where I was sitting and pat my butt to brush the sand off of it.

I start hearing some bickerings around. They're all from the girls.

"She actually dared to call her out."

"Seeing her up close like this, she looks scarier than in class."

"Glad, I wasn't picked."

"How am I supposed to act if I was chosen to be her teammate?"

"The unluckiest ones are those in her team."

I clench my teeth, squint and turn to scan those behind me; the source of all the non-sensical bickerings.

Some actually gulp when I look at them straight in their eyes.

I snicker at the tiny bit of satisfaction, then run to the field.

\---

"Hi, I'm Yihan." I blurt that to my teammates while I try hard to show a smile—which ends up looking like a sarcastic one, instead.

They take a glance at each other first before telling me:

"I'm Junjie." Says the guy.

"Xiao Tong." Says the girl, while looking at... I don't know. Seems like the girls here mostly never like me even by a bit.

"Alright, so do you two know how to play this?" I ask them.

"I guess. You?" Junjie asks me.

"I do. But I'm a little nervous. I never play on a beach before."

"Alright, we're cool then." That's Junjie again. I think he's the only one that's willing to acknowledge me as his teammate here.

The PIC suddenly announces this on her mic, "So Team A plays on the left side, while Team B on the right side."

I choose to stand on the most right side; the nearest to the sea. Because according to my logic, I'll have the less chance of having to see the sea there.

\---

"Alright, the first serve will be done by Team A."

Someone from that team hits the ball to our side of the field. But Junjie in our front hits it back to the enemy's side.

They keep repeating that until it's about to hit the area where I'm standing and I smash it dead on their field.

"Score for Team B!"

Junjie high-fives me while smiling.

I don't do the same thing to Xiao Tong because she still doesn't want to look at me, at all.

\---

"Time for Team B to serve. Sun Yihan is going to hit the ball... where do you guys think she's planning to aim it to?"

I don't plan for this kind of thing, sis.

I randomly hit the ball to the enemy's field and they hit it back to us. It's heading to Xiao Tong's area so I yell, "Xiao Tong!"

But she suddenly takes a step to the side on purpose—because she looks flat like she's aware with what's going on. Thus the ball hits our field.

"Seems like Guan Xiao Tong was startled with the ball. Cheer for this team!"

"Score for Team A!"

I let out a sigh.

"Did you do that on purpose?" I blurt.

"No... that's not true, right?" Junjie chuckles uneasily like he's trying to save the atmosphere. "It's ok Xiao Tong, we can do this."

This is why I interact with the guys, mostly.

"Time for Team B to serve. Guan Xiao Tong is getting ready, guys... and, BAAM!"

She's able to hit the ball just fine. I know it. She knows how to play this.

But as the ball is hit back to her area, she rolls her eyes while letting out a slight smirk. I notice that.

I hurry to that side, to get myself ready for the ball, but when it's flying to me, my eyes glance at the sea in reflex.

My heart starts beating irregularly and I feel like everything starts slowing down... that I miss the ball.

"Score for Team A!"

I immediately shake my head out of it.

"What happened to Team B? Hope they'll get it together soon. Because Team A is leading this time."

"Let's wish both teams luck!"

I press my eyes, mentally cursing myself.

But suddenly I open them as I hear the girl snickers. "Saying that I did it on purpose when you did the same thing." The left corner of her mouth rises.

"Then _fucking_ play properly." I glare at her.

"Ok ok, girls. Focus on the game. We have some scores to beat here." Junjie blurts.


	9. Chapter 9

SHE'S BOILING ME. She keeps making scores for the opposing team by avoiding the ball, hitting it recklessly and even mouthing shits to me!

"I don't want to win at all if you want it so badly."

"How cheap."

"You need recognition that much, huh?"

"This is only a game."

"I don't know that orphans are as this pitiful."

\---

"It's time for Team B to serve again. Sun Yihan will be hitting the ball for this team—"

"Wait, what is she doing?"

I drop the ball and clench my fist as I walk to her.

But Junjie suddenly blocks my way. "W-what are you doing? Let's just surrender if you don't want to play anymore, ok?"

"By the way, score for Team A!

"That wraps up this round and the winner is Team A!"

Junjie is then distracted by the announcement so he turns to the announcer, and I take this as a chance to go to the  _fuckgirl._

But before I can actually do a thing, someone grabs my wrist pulling me from going any near to her. "Don't, you'll get yourself into trouble with this." That's Junjie again.

"If only she wasn't here, we didn't have to go to the fucking sea!" I grumble.

"It's only 30 seconds. Come on." He tells me.

I let out a heavy sigh.

But I feel like stomping on her _again_ when I see her mouthing, "Loser."

\---

I brush Junjie's grab from my wrist, gently, then walk to the announcer.

"Hey, it's 30 seconds, right?" I ask her.

"Yes, only 30 seconds."

I press my eyes and take a deep breath; I'm trying to make myself not to think about this too much, hoping it can reduce or at least bury the uneasy feeling for a few while.

I start taking my hoodie off and drop it to the ground. Some people actually make the previous "positive booing" as I do that.

I hurry to the sea.

\---

I've been trying to distract myself by thinking about the latest episode of the Flash that I recently watched, while pressing my eyes shut.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and it's done!"

I sigh in relief then start walking back to the surface.

Someone is actually holding towels for me and my teammates there, but I refuse to take it by shaking my head and run to take my hoodie, instead.

I quickly go back to my room, _soaked_.

\---

My head starts to feel heavy as I reach the hallway to my room. "Wait a little bit more, ok.." I mumble.

Once I'm standing in front of my door and about to open the handle, it doesn't want to open.

I finally realize that my key is still with Xixi because we left this place together.

I drop my hoodie and myself in front of the door. I sit while I rest my head on my knees.

 

......

"Xiao Han!" Mom called me from her room.

"Yes?" I yelled.

"Can you bring your brother's diaper here, please?"

"Alright!"

I started checking on a certain cupboard in our house and found nothing.

"Mom, we're running out of it! I'll go buy it first!!"

"No, you're going to be late to school! I'll just ask dad for it!"

I was 15 when Mom gave birth to Baobao. It was quite shocking at first, but I didn't despise it. Instead, I felt like our family was very blessed.

He's the blessing I could never stop feeling thankful for, even until today.

\---

But after he had his 4th birthday, _it_ happened.

So my Grandma called Mom and Dad to visit her in Taiwan because she was very sick. She thought that it might be her last time.

 _Which then became everyone's last_.

Not long after their departure, there's this moment when I couldn't reach them on the phone at all. And suddenly, I got the call I never wanted to ever imagine in my life.

"Hello, is this Mr. Sun's residence?"

"Yes, but he's currently not present."

"I'm Dr. Lau, from the National Board for Disaster Management. May I know who am I speaking to?"

"I'm Sun Yihan. Mr. Sun's child."

"How old are you?"

"17."

"Are you alone?"

"No, I'm with my little brother."

“Do you have any adult with you now?”

“Um, there’s an auntie next door.”

"Do you know what happened to Mr. Sun and his wife?"

"Uh... they just went on a trip?"

"Mr. Sun and his wife went on a trip from Beijing to Taiwan to visit his mother by ferry. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"I'm sorry to inform you that Mr. Sun and Mrs. Sun died on the ferry."

 

......

A tear drops on my cheek as I remember that.

"Hey, Yiyi! What are you—" He widens his eyes as I look at him. He's already kneeling beside me.

"Are you ok?" He starts talking in a softer voice while twitching his eyebrows. "You look pale..."

He immediately stands up and opens my locked door. He goes inside for a brief while then comes back to cover my body with a towel.

"Why did you ditch the towel?" He asks me questions but doesn't actually wait for me to answer.

"Are you cold?" He puts his palm on my forehead. "You're not, though?"

"Are you sleepy?" He can't seem to stop talking.

"I'm fine. Can you leave me alone?"

"Huh?"

I put my palms on the floor to support myself up, but he suddenly lingers his arm on my shoulder while he holds my elbow with his other hand.

As I stand up, I tell him, "Thanks. I'm really fine." I brush his hands off from me.

I open the handle of my door and start walking in. The longer I stand, the more I feel like my feet are not actually on the floor.

I start progressing to fall, instead.

But he grabs me _just in time_.

"Come on, you're not fine. Let's go to a clinic nearby." He starts dragging me out from there.

"No, I said I'm fine."

"This is actually better than the last time." I mutter.

"What are you talking about?"

"Just leave me alone. Thanks, by the—"

"You know what, if you still don't want to talk about it, I'll keep dragging you to the clinic." He starts walking again.

"Alright, alright." I let out a heavy sigh. "I said it to you that I didn't want to go to the game today."

"That's it?" He furrows his eyebrows then sighs. "Are you upset because of Xiao Tong?"

"No. But because you remind me, I start feeling _fucking_ upset for that now."

He gently flicks my forehead.

“Hhhh, come on.” I squint at him.

"So you weren't upset with her. You're definitely sick, then!"

"Yeah, alright. Now go back to your room or whatever." I hurry back to my room and close the door before he's able to come to me again.

"Uh.. come on, Yiyi." He starts muttering stuff from the outside. "By the way, I want to apologize for her to you."

"She's actually my cousin, somehow. She's been acting that way since her father left."

Non-sense.

My father also "left" but I've been acting just fine.

_I start crying for real._


	10. Chapter 10

HE COULD HEAR THAT. I stupidly haven't locked my door, so he easily walked into my room once he heard me crying—while also spouting non-sense.

We're currently sitting on the edge of my bed.

"I'm sorry... I get it why you hate this place so much." He mutters.

That brings me back to the present world. "Ugh, forget everything I just said." I let out a sigh.

"What?"

"I said forget it, ok?" I turn to him. "You want to help me or not? You're helping me if you agree to forget it."

He wets his lips while looking at me with a pair of sad eyes. My heart aches to that, as if reminding me that it's still sad, too.

"Come on... don't you feel like you have to cheer me instead?" I shift my eyes to the floor. They start to feel really warm.

Eyes are always honest.

They're the most honest part of the human's body. No one can help it. When one's already in the sad mode, it's nearly impossible to fool others with the eyes.  _Because they'll never agree to comply._

He suddenly pulls me into a hug.

 _He smells really good; it's soothing_.

"Just, let everything out as much as you want. You'll probably have no chance like this in the future."

I chuckle as I sniffle. "Seriously. I can do this by myself every day." I mutter.

"Nope, you can't hug yourself."

I groan and push him away.

“Already?” He says.

I roll my eyes.

_Deep inside I regret it, bro._

~~_Coughs._ ~~

\---

I’m still a little embarrassed that he witnessed me _almost_ breaking down like that. But at the same time, I'm thankful, because he's been helping me since then to sneak out from the remaining games of the shitty trip.

He doesn't necessarily walks to the front—and pulls off some greasy heroic acts—if the PIC ever picks me again.

But he makes me work as a "helper" along with him to help prepare things for every game, so the PIC's _never_ wanted to pick me.

\---

Until it's finally the last night of the trip.

"What the heck?" I blurt that while I'm preparing a bonfire with him.

I notice someone familiar on the crowd walking to this way—the girl who's thirsty for Xixi's accounts in the cafeteria.

"What's up?" He turns to me.

"Aren't those people from the faculty of that annoying cafeteria?"

"I bet you don't know that this trip is held for the whole campus?"

I gasp.

_I only know that we have to do this more than once and that it's going to be always annoying._

"So there are actually a lot of people here? How come I didn't realize it sooner?" I dart my eyes around. "Wait, I don't think that I'm actually familiar with all the faces of our classmates." I sigh.

He starts giggling while covering his mouth with his palm. He tries pulling himself together first, then tells me, "Listen, the locations are different for each faculty. But apparently, that certain faculty is staying nearby."

"Ughhh." I groan. "She should be staying with her friends in wherever their hotel is, though. She's causing a lot of work."

"Well, their PIC actually have discussed with ours to hold a cross-farewell party tonight."

I roll my eyes as my lip corner raises on one side. I feel a sudden urge to stick with him the whole night, to probably protect him.

_The difference between a sense of protecting him and owning him... is quite vague._

_She's probably right._

\---

Someone is standing right behind us, saying, "Hi, I was told to help you set this—"

I turn to the voice, in reflex, but then I instantly squint. "You're really _fucking_ everywhere." I mutter.

"Eh, you're staying in here?"

I roll my eyes. "Drop that already. I told you which faculty I belong to."

"Really?" He says that while widening his almond eyes; he's trying to look cute, again.

"Ughhhh." I groan very loudly.

"You don't have to be that happy to see me." He chuckles as he lets out a smirk.

My nose crinkles.

"So how is your dog? Has he died?"

I clench my fist, actually intend to pacify myself from being unnecessarily too upset.

I stand up and walk closer to his face, to glare at him. "Douchebag, the dog is fine. In fact, it's really fine." I sigh.

"Now can you please excuse us by getting your ass away before I make you?"

He blinks a few times quickly, while he still dares to put his smug face on. "Ok... just don't forget to come for control. The medicines should've emptied already by now, right?"

"You sure you don't need my help?" Douchebag still has a hard time to digest that he's not accepted here.

Xixi suddenly stands up and clears his throat. "Yes, we're done with the bonfire." He blurts.

\---

"What are the agendas for tonight's party?"

"I told you to check on the group chat, sometimes." He sighs.

"Ah, right. Sorry." I immediately open my phone and take a look at the group chat.

My eyebrows and my nose suddenly twitch so hard, because I can only see a list of bizarre activities; the rundown is ridiculous.

"Who to Kiss, Eat It or Kiss It, I'd Rather Kiss than Have a Bad Night." I stick my tongue out in disgust.

"Who made this? The PICs?"

"Most likely."

"Do you have any idea about how they'll conduct these? I already have chills just from reading the names."

He raises his shoulders, probably telling that he's also clueless about it.

"Just where the _fuck_ is the team-building aspect here?" I mumble.

“OWW!” He just pinched me.

“Stop that already!” I glare at him. “You seem to love hitting me with that excuse,” I grumble.

\---

Everyone has gathered near the bonfire that we've set earlier.

"Alright, first of all I want to say welcome to all our friends from the Economy and Business Faculty!"

People cheer.

"After a long discussion with some creative friends from both faculties," _You mean some thirsty girls._ "—We'll be doing three activities in total."

"I'm going to explain the first one to you. It's called Who to Kiss. Because each of you will get a partner for the next game through this—"

The next game is called Kiss It or Eat It, I believe. Does it have something to do with people's style of kissing? But what does "it" mean, though?  _God_ , it's beyond disgusting already just from picturing it in my head.


	11. Chapter 11

I CAN BREATHE FOR NOW. So the Kiss It or Eat It game turns to be not as scary as the name. I assume that they did intend to make it scary at first, but since there might be partners with different orientations therefore they altered it..?

It's actually the famous chocolate stick game, where two people are given one stick and each has to put his/her mouth on its end, then starts eating it. The team with the shortest stick win.

Meanwhile the Who to Kiss—or the first game to divide everyone into partners—only means that the PIC will tell everyone to start counting from 1 to 100. Each person says a number and if the number 100th is reached already, repeat from 1.

Thus the two people who say the same number are partners.

\---

Much to my stupidity, I told Xixi to sit as far as he can from me, but I didn't predict the number correctly. I aimed to get him a guy but instead—

He got his _witch_ cousin.

I could imagine how awkward they would be while facing each other and eating the chocolate stick.

_Wait, isn't it actually good?_

_\---_

"Remember, all of you have to do the game _wholeheartedly_. If you're seen to be doing it recklessly without actually trying, you'll have to do the third game."

Ok.. that's new.

"So the third game is called I'd Rather Kiss than Have a Good Night, which literally means that you have to kiss the partner you've neglected in the chocolate stick game."

—and scary.

"You can still choose not to kiss the neglected partner, if you're willing to drink one of these." She's pointing at a bunch of bottles with weird purple liquid in them. "It will seriously make you have a bad night because it contains various kinds of heavy wine, soy sauce, and vinegar."

"What if both parties mutually don't want to do the chocolate stick game and also the kiss at all?" Someone asks.

"Each has to drink this."

\---

Everyone is in chaos discussing stuff and trying to find their partner, when I still haven't met my own partner yet. "Number 78, please show up! Let's end this shit already! 78!!!" I keep yelling randomly while raising a hand.

Then someone finally starts walking to me. "I'm 78."

I turn to the voice and gasp.

_It’s the apron guy, again._

"You must be kidding me." I mutter.

"Dream comes true, huh?" His lip corner raises on one side, in disgust. _So he's talking about me._

"Can you drop the I'm-absolutely-fucking-idolized-by-everybody attitude?" I twitch my face. Even my handsome ethereal friend doesn't have that.

"Listen, my alcohol tolerance is really low, I can fall on the bed for days just from drinking that. I don't want to look like I'm neglecting you. So don't be too overly excited later, ok?"

"WHAT THE FUCK???#!"

People turn to us, startled.

I chuckle uneasily and immediately blurt, "Sorry, I just.. stepped on something. Go ahead continue your thing, haha." I force myself to smile.

I glare back at him while start talking in a more normal volume, "Fucking douchebag, you should know that I'm actually glad that the hate I feel is mutual on you."

He snickers.

"Fuck, whatever. Believe what you like." I groan and roll my eyes.

"We'll see who's too overly excited later." I mutter.

\---

"Is there any team that still hasn't received a chocolate stick yet? Raise your hand!"

Nobody raises a hand.

"Alright, get in position!"

The douchebag guy is already standing in front of me and is currently putting our stick on his mouth.

I sigh while I tiptoe a little bit; I’m trying to put my mouth on the other edge of it. He quickly tilts his head to the side to help me reach the stick.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, start!"

I glare at him for a brief second, attempting to tell him to watch his fucking lips. _He looks good from this distance, by the way._

I quickly blink it away then focus on the stick and start eating the edge.

I feel more and more _uneasy_ every time his breath touches my face. I think I’m upset.

The moment his nose tip brushes my cheek, I put my palm on his shoulder to prevent him from moving any forward.

“Time’s up!”

As I pull away from the stick, my eyes suddenly feel like they’re _drawn_ into his eyes. I gulp. For a sec, I admit that he has a pair of great eyes; somehow match his attitude.

I immediately look away and dart my eyes around.

He starts scratching the back of his head, like he’s thinking. _Geez_ , hopefully I didn’t show a stunned face in front of him.

It’s annoying to even imagine what’s possibly on his mind if ~~he knew~~ I did.

_Find Xixi._

\---

I feel bad as I watch Xixi’s turn. He keeps trying to reason with the PIC and always fails.

But the witch cousin is acting weird though, she looks _creepily_ happy.

This view is very disgusting.

I’m currently trying to catch his attention by keep on looking at him while waving a hand. I just want to let him know that I support him no matter what; that’s probably my way to get a little “redemption”.

And when he notices me, I mouth, “Sorry.” He only responds that with his sheepish smile then makes a drinking gesture with his hand in front of his mouth.

So he chooses that.

\---

He’s not someone who can resist bad-tasted food. I know some people that can still eat anything despite it tastes bad or not, as long as it’s food.

But he’s definitely not one of them.

He’s also the type that will directly show what he feels about anything. He doesn’t literally say it sometimes, but his face always shows it all.

\---

Out of hundreds of people in here, nobody has to “play” the last game except Xixi.

“Alright, we’re finally going to do the last game in this whole trip! And as you all know, the one that has to play it is our campus’ heartthrob, He Changxi!”

People cheer.

While he looks very pitiful..

\---

People start standing up to probably get a clearer view of him.

“I wonder how he’ll look like when he’s drunk...”

“Must be a lot hotter!!"

"He's already hot standing there."

"This needs to be recorded."

"Who knows that he would suddenly want me later? I need to get ready."

"I'll stick closer to him."

"No, I will!"

"I will!!"

I roll my eyes. I regret that I'm standing around some uneducated _bitches_.

"Isn't there anybody here that actually feels bad for him? He's forced to drink such shit just because he doesn't want to kiss his cousin?" I grumble to myself.

They suddenly turn to me.

"What is your problem?"

"Isn't this the mite that always sticks with him anywhere he goes?"

They start snickering.

"Tsk. Bitches." I blurt that without taking a glance at them and just leave the crowd.

\---

But it's kind of hard to stand on the most front row here. I'm currently on the most back row and every body is just so huge and "active". How am I supposed to push them all?

I try tip-toeing to take a peek on him.

"Drink it, drink it, drink it, drink it!" People are cheering for him to do it right now.

He unwillingly pinches his nose while he starts putting the bottle on his mouth.

But only after one small gulp, he already pulls away and looks like he's about to vomit.

"Move away!" I yell that to whoever standing in front of me. No one budges, though.

I take a look again at him and he's already about to finish half of it. I feel terrible.

I rush to the front while probably hurting some people and myself in the process.

\---

I pant a bit as I've finally arrived in front of him.

"Stop that!" I yell.

He's still twitching his face, holding the bitterness in, when he turns to me.

I snatch the bottle away from him and drink it.

"What.. are you... doing?" He's even having a hard time to talk.

"Helping you. What else?"

"No, give it.. back."

"Listen, if you fall, a lot of bitches are waiting in line to perform scary shits on you and I can't do anything about it."

"But if I fall, it doesn't matter."

I start drinking the whole thing.


	12. Chapter 12

DOUCH— I MEAN DUDE, THANKS. I was having a hard time "protecting" him from the girls. I thought I would be the one who fell but I didn't.

Xixi kept saying that his head and his stomach felt funny. I had to support him so I lingered my hand around him. But since he's super tall, I only could reach his back below the shoulders.

The girls were about to surround him after they saw him holding his head in pain.  _Fake fans._

But the apron guy suddenly appeared out of nowhere and snatched the annoyingly-too-loud mic from the PIC. "Anyone wants to drink the leftovers with me?" He's trying to look cool by smirking _I want to puke_ \---but I have to admit that it fit the situation.

"The party isn't over yet!" He yelled as he ran to the DJ table and started doing whatever he's doing there.

He  always seems like he wants to portray himself as the in-crowd, and lucky to him, his smug face, his douchebag attitude, his skill of drawing attention; support that.

"Li Zhenning! Li Zhenning! Li Zhenning! Li Zhenning!" People are cheering according to the beat for him.  _Ok, he looks quite entertaining from this side._

Thanks to him, most of the girls decided not to come to us but to him instead. Except a few, including the witch cousin.

\---

"I'll bring him to the room." That's the cousin.

"No. Just join the others." I start walking with Xixi away from there.

But suddenly she grabs my arm, pretty hard, and yells, "I said, I'll bring him to the room!"

Which room, though? She's making me doubt her.

Now that I think about it, the girls standing in front of me are actually the witch cousin and her minions. It's possible, because it's only her that's been talking.

Wow, how to have minions?

I shake her grab off. "I'm giving you the easiest option. Why aren't you thankful for that?" I blurt.

She takes a deep breath in anger while she widens her eyes. _I'm lowkey scared._

I usually start talking non-sense when I feel like I'm in danger. "You don't know how heavy this guy is, right? Come on. I told you I'm giving you the easiest option. Besides—"

"Leave me.. alone... Xiao Tong." He mutters.

I take a peek at his face.

I wet my lips, because I feel like I can relate to how uncomfortable he feels right now—hearing unnecessary bickerings from us in that state.

The witch is actually paralyzed and teary as she hears him saying that. I might feel the same way if I was in her shoes.

I puff my cheeks then quickly tell her, "Chill, I'm a good person. Enjoy the party, bye!"

\---

After many tiring heavy slow steps, we're finally in front of his room—which also implies that we're in front of my room because they're next to each other.

"Where's your key?" I ask him.

"Pocket."

I start scanning his whole outfit with my hand while I gulp—come on, I'm touching the body of He Changxi here.

There are several pockets on his jacket and his pants.

"Which one?"

He slowly puts his hand into a certain pocket on the pants then pulls out a key. He tries to open his door's lock by himself, but he's failing because his hand is slightly trembling—or he just can't seem to find the hole.

I snatch the key then open the door properly.

\---

I support him walk to his bed and just drop him there. There's even a sound from that. I feel bad. "Sorry, it's not that you're heavy but.. I'm just too weak." I mutter.

He actually chuckles to that.

I've finally realized that I dropped him too carelessly. He's now laying on the edge of his bed. I'm a little scared that he'll fall any minute.

"Can you move aside a little bit? This looks very uncomfortable." I help him move himself until his head can rest on the correct place; the pillow.

I sit on his bed, beside him.

"Hey, I haven't apologized for tonight." I press my lips. "Sorry that I made you have the same number with her. I stupidly thought it's going to lead you to a guy."

"I wonder, though, is she also annoying to you? That's why you seemed like you despise her? I initially thought that she must be at least good to you only."

He starts talking but weakly like he's whispering, "We're actually... not related. But we're cousin now."

"Uh, so you don't share the same blood?"

He slightly nods.

"I get it." My eyebrows flash. They don't share the same trait, aura, or even look. _Wait, but it's normal for cousins not to share those. They're not siblings._

"I bet she actually likes you but you don't, right?" It's not a baseless assumption; remember who's this guy I'm talking to.

"But you probably think of her as only a relative... that's why."

"Or you also think that she's so fucking scary." I add.

\---

"OWW!" He punches my stomach. It's not hard but since I also did consume the shitty drink, it's pretty sensitive.

"Ok ok, sorry that I mocked her—"

"Wait, is this only because I swore?" I sigh and roll my eyes. "Ughhh if something happens to me later just because you hit me for that reason, I'll—"

"Maybe it's time for me to leave."

But he stops me by pulling my arm to him, until I fall on his chest with my face being only a few centimeters away from his face.

My eyes start scanning—or enjoying—his whole face by themselves on this angle. I can't help it. _What did He papa and He mama do to have this?_

He looks extra alluring this time. For some reasons. Both of his eyes are hazy while they look at me; sometimes they close and they open—these happen very slowly.

They give me a certain _soft_ feeling inside.

"Can you... stay?" He mumbles.

"Uh.." I brush his hand off of my arm. "I guess. But not like this—"

He suddenly moves to the side to give me a space beside him. He grabs my arm and pulls me to lay there.

I gulp.

It's ok, though. Just wake up early in the morning, casually walk to your room and everything will be back to normal.

He starts slipping his hands below and in front of my shoulders. He's like attempting to hug me from the side, but he's doing it too slowly that I feel... very uneasy.

There's this slight tingling sensation that arises from my feet to the area around my thighs and pelvis.

\---

As he's able to "fully hug" me, he ends it by intertwining his fingers of both hands. Without letting me have some time to process any of that, he starts leaning into my neck. He's like nuzzling on it.

Something inside my heart is thumping so hard like it's trying to hurt me. The tingling sensation is not slight anymore.

I feel unnecessarily hot in this cold place.

"Aren't you.. hot right now?" I mutter as I try to grab his hand and release it from my shoulder.

He whispers, "No, don't leave... I don't feel well." His gentle voice and his breath on my neck are _killing_ me. He tightens his grab even more and makes himself more comfortable in that position.

\---

"Did you like it.. doing that with the guy..."

"Eh?" I furrow my eyebrows.

"You nearly won the first place."

So the douchebag and me, in my opinion, didn't actually eat the stick until the size that might bring us to win. But he was cunning enough that before he spits it he bit it a little bit more and that gave us the second place.

"Next time.. can't you do it... with me, instead?"

"What do you mean?" I gulp. This feels weird, by the way. "Besides, you knew it's randomized. We failed when we attempted to alter it, right?"

"Uhh I..." He starts mumbling things that sound unclear but _enjoyable._ I am creepy.

I'll just close my eyes for a few minutes then leave once he's fully asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

SOMETHING IS ON MY FACE. The moment I open my eyes, both of them widen in shock—or happiness coughs. His nose tip is on my nose bridge and his lips are on my cupid's bow.

_DHIWUSBSHSYWYDHGSGSJIEHSJSJDK_

I try to break free from his hug by slightly moving to the side, getting at least my face away from him first. But as I grab his hand to release it from my shoulder, he pulls me even closer aka back to the touching-each-other's-face.

I gulp. This is why a single girl should never sleep with a single guy.

Suddenly, his phone rings. It's probably an alarm because I don't hear his usual ringtone.

He seems to be about to open his eyes.

What should I do what should I do what should I do what should I do what should I do?

I immediately close my eyes hoping it'll be _less_ awkward.

\---

I can feel that he slightly opens his mouth—not like he wants to do something weird but he probably gasps, but only a little bit. I should "wake up" on this.

I slowly open my eyes.

I do the same routine I did earlier. I widen my eyes in shock—it's not hard to repeat that because nobody will ever not get shocked every time they wake up on this.

He pulls his face away a bit, then gently pulls both of his hands on my back and the front of my shoulders to him.

He gulps. "Did... did I do something I shouldn't last night?" He asks.

I start blinking quickly, totally not sure with what to say. I peek at my clothes and his clothes; everything is still in their initial condition. We're safe. It's likely good if he doesn't remember any of that, I think.

I push myself to sit on the bed then immediately get off of it. "I have to pack some stuff." I rush to my room.

\---

Our agenda today is only to go back home.

There's also a breakfast time but I didn't want to see him at all, including the time when we have to get on the bus later. So I decided to get on it by myself first before the others.

I told the driver that I didn't have a good sleep last night, that's why I wanted to immediately sleep inside the bus. I added that it's better than bothering everyone to find me—if I fall asleep somewhere later when I should get on the bus instead.

Besides, I wasn't completely lying.

\---

I start feeling something heavy on my head.

So I was sleeping on someone else's shoulder while that someone was also sleeping on the side of my head.

I take a look at the hands.

I purse my lips as I recognize the nails. The only man standing I know that has such pretty and shiny nails is called He Changxi.

\---

I don't have the gut to wake him up until suddenly, he moves his head and hurts me in the process.

"Oww!" I try not to sound too loud and draw too many attentions.

He has only one earring on his left ear, which is currently stuck with my hair.

"Uh, sorry.." He starts pulling his head away as slow as possible, while I twitch my face because it still hurts no matter what.

\---

I shift my eyes to the window; I'm trying to find anything to distract me on the whole way. How am I supposed to interact with him after waking up to _that_ in his room?

"Do you feel hurt somewhere?"

"Uhm, nope." I clear my throat. "My hair is fine." I'm still looking at the window.

"No, I mean, from last night."

I crinkle my forehead and quickly turn to him. I'm taken aback. "What are you talking about?" He surely has some wild imagination.

"Listen, we did nothing, I swear." I sigh then start talking in a very low volume. "Other than you put your face on my neck then when I woke up... it's on my face." I sound like I mumble to myself.

"Huh?"

"I said, nothing. This talk is over."

"I just... I want you to know that whatever happened, I'm really sorry."

"By the way, I bought this at the hotel." He takes out two chocolate bread from his jacket and hands one to me.

"You didn't eat breakfast too?"

"How could I do that? I mean, your room was locked and I figured that you've checked out earlier than everyone."

"So you're looking for me."

"If you feel like telling me everything later, just tell me."

He's putting it like he really did something terrible to me. It makes me start doubting... myself.

Should I feel wronged? Am I way too cheap that I'm not mad with him for asking me to lay beside him last night?

\---

All of a sudden, my brother video calls me, breaking the actually-short-but-feels-like-long awkward silence between me and Xixi.

"What is it." I answer it.

"JIEE!" He grins so widely that I can't help but mimic him by slightly letting out a smile.

"What time will you arrive at home?"

"I don't know. Maybe, in 1 or 2 hours."

"The auntie is too chill I actually miss your loud annoying grumbles, jie."

I press my lips. "What kind of _shitty_ statement is that? Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"How dare you say a bad word, jie..." He furrows his eyebrows. "Where is Xixi gege? Is he not around?"

I turn to Xixi. I realize that he's been staring at us video-calling each other, but he doesn't say a thing.

I put the phone in front of him.

"Ge!" My brother squeals. "Have you been watching my jiejie properly these days?"

"I guess." Xixi smiles a bit.

"You hit her every time she said any bad word?"

"I did."

"Then hit her again! She just said it to me, an underage!!"

Xixi only subtly chuckles to that.

_Ok, that scares me a bit._

I take the phone and put it back in front of my face. "Gege is tired. Let's talk again later, ok? Love you, Baobao. Bye-Bye!"

I hang up.


	14. Chapter 14

TIME TO SAY GOODBYE TO IT. I'm taking the dog to the vet clinic, hoping it's ready to live by its own right now—aka to be kicked out from our house.

"Heey, what's up Mr. Big Guy?" The douchebag is trying to act cute in front of Baobao.

"Cut it off. Can you help us take this to the doctor?" I blurt.

"Alright, alright. Chill." He takes the dog on my arm and brings it to the room.

\---

"Good job, Xiao Xi is in a very good condition now. He seems to have been receiving good care and good nutrition. Keep it up!" Says the doctor to me and Baobao.

"We don't need Google for that." I mutter while I lean into the douchebag's ear.

"I've prescribed some vitamins for him, so he can grow well and probably mate later if you get him a female."

"Umm, it's already enough." I take it and carry it in my arms. "Thanks a lot, doc."

\---

"I have a single female dog in my place, actually."

"Ugh.” I roll my eyes.

“How about, you take this to your place and just do it yourself? You can even marry them. I don’t have to be invited if you—"

"Jiee.." Baobao tugs the hem of my shirt while showing his puppy eyes mode to me. "Don't give him to anyone, please... I will behave, I promise!"

I let out a heavy sigh.

But as I do that, I hear a giggle from the douchebag. “What a douche—“ That will sound bad in a kid’s ears. “I mean, what's your name again?”

"Seriously? You're still putting that denial persona on even after being that excited in that competition." He snickers.

We _fucking_  almost won the first place.

He’s definitely aware that everyone had to at least look like they’re excited with the thing, if they wanted to escape the other game. We’ve actually succeeded to escape that, which implies that if he dares to call me “that excited”, then he’s also not any less excited than me back then.

But there's no point in arguing with a douchebag.

I roll my eyes. "You're Li Zhenning, right?"  _I actually just peeked at the nametag on his apron._

"So is he not a stranger?" Baobao asks while still looking at me with the puppy eyes.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Hello, gege!” _That’s quick._

“My name is Sun Baobao." He grins widely and even offers his hand to the douchebag Zhenning guy—I can't believe this.

This is why I’ve “established” a certain weird confused feeling of being allowed or not allowed to talk to other people in Baobao’s mind.

I call it weird because it’s still not perfect yet even until today. His inner self that crave to be nice to everyone and everything all the time, seems to hate my way of life.

"Hi hi, I'm Li Zhenning. What a cool name, Mr. Big Guy!" The guy shakes his hand excessively—again, trying to act cute—then pats his cheek.

\---

I can't believe my brother is as this easy.

We're currently in the guy's car—since he offered to drive us home which was instantly agreed by Baobao. The car is way too fancy that I feel disgusted with how literally a douchebag he is.

"Are you trying to brag now?" I blurt from the passenger's seat.

He keeps showing all the futuristic stuff of his car while still trying to act cute to Baobao, who’s sitting right beside him. Of course, Baobao looks genuinely amazed with everything and that’s why I’m very upset.

"I mean seriously, to him? Tsk." I snicker.

He presses his lips. "Why are you always annoyed with everything?" He leans closer to Baobao with a slightly crinkled nose. "Is she really your biological sister? You both are really different."

"What is biological sister, ge? Is it the same with _fucking_ sister?"

I twitch my face.

He bursts into laughter—but he's trying to do it quietly by pressing his lips. No difference, though.

"No, they're different. By the way, you should never use that word again, ok?” He’s trying to charm my brother [again] by excessively smiling.

”Biological sister is like... the sister that came out from the same mother and father with you."

"Came out?" Baobao asks.

"Ugh." I groan while I roll my eyes. _Douchebag._

"Stop that. Of course, we're siblings. I saw how he's born with my own eyes. What are you expecting?" I puff my cheeks in annoyance.

\---

“And we’re here!” The douchebag Zhenning guy blurts as he stops his car in front of our house.

Once he unlocks all the doors, I immediately open my door and walk to open Baobao’s.

I hold his arm while I take a glance at Zhenning and mutter, “Thanks.” Despite how annoying he is just by existing, he did something worth to say thanks for.

I quickly shift my eyes back to Baobao and start helping him to get out of the car.

\---

But after I close his door, the window rolls down. “Thanks a lot, Ning gege!” Baobao yells that as he starts seeing Zhenning’s smiley face.

He’s brainwashed my brother with a nickname.

I twitch my face.

“Anytime! Don’t forget to call gege if your sister plans to do something bad to Xiao Xi, ok?”

“Ok!” Baobao squeals. God.

“Also if she does anything to you—”

“Jiejie never does anything bad to me....”

Lol, failed. I slightly smirk to that.

\---

Just leave already.

“What time do you go to school, Baobao?”

“Umm, mostly on 7 AM—”

What is he up to with that?

“Don’t you have something else to do now?” I sigh. “Well, if you don’t, I don’t care. But we have a lot in here. So please leave.”

He glares at me, squints, then suddenly turns to Baobao with a seemingly-sweet face. “Alright Baobao, if you want to have a chill drive with this again, just call me, ok?”

“I even have many other cool ones that you can choose!”

Baobao looks genuinely amazed, again.

This douchebag, I mean Zhenning seems to love the sight of people being amazed by him. No wonder.

“See you soon, gege!”


End file.
